Burial casket



Dec. 31, 1929. J. E. cARLsoN BURIAL CASKET Filed July 15 1922 between said Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNITED STATES BURIAL Application zfiled July 13,

This invention relates to burial caskets and to the type mown as metal caskets which are designed and intended to include an air and water tight chamber. Numerous diiiiculties have been encountered by workers in the art in their efforts to make a metallic casket which would be entirely satisfactory. from allstandpoints since the requirements are so numerous and in many instances are so inconsistent as to make simultaneous attainment seem impossible. Considerable strength is necessary but metal is heavy and expensive and undue weight is objectionable and thus it is necessary to make the air tight metal container or chamber comparatively thin. That, however, weakens it and makes it liableto distortion unless properly supported and protected by exterior means. around it, particularly during shipment and, furthermore, special means is required to connect the lifting handlesto it while still maintaining the metal container or chamber air tight. The expedients heretofore adopted for these purposes have been numerous and varied but have usually been unsatisfactory for one reason or another. One of the most important features of the present invention which is believed to be broadly new consists in an outer sheet metal casing of any predetermined design, an inner sheet metal casing having smooth, continuous imperforate bottom, side and'end Walls spaced inwardly from the outer casing, a fixed distance at substantially all points, such as, for instance, one inch and a box-like body of Wood closely fitting within and filling the' space metal casings. The upper edges it of the two metal casings are connected and,

lie across the up per ends of the wood enclosed between them. This not only makes possible the production of a metal casket hav-: ing any ornamental external design desired but the layers of metal even if made very thin, closely fitting and enclosing the wood construction on opposite sides, make a very strong casket which is not likely to be dented or distorted by accidental contact with things and one in which the inner metal cas ing or chamber is air and water tight and is never in danger of distortion or puncture.

PATENT our ASSIGNOR T0 ATLANTA cnsnnr COMPANY, oonronnrron on enoneta CASKET 1922. Serial No. 574,714.

For instance the handles necessary in lifting the casket may be s'ecuredto it with all of the desired strength and rigidity'by screws entering through the outer metal casing and into the wood without the slightest fear or danger of puncturing the inner casing and thus the manufacturer may ship the casket to customers without the handles attached and they may be applied later. It also permits securing the casket-firmly in place in a ship ping box without danger of side contact and distortion by screws passing 1 through the outer metal casing along the bottom of the casket and into the wood lining but not through to the inner casing. The invention also includes a novel and useful construction at the upper edges of the side and end walls of the casket adding still further to the strength and to the eliiciency of the air tight connection between the upper end of the casket chamber and the inner sealing top embodying Wrought iron bars cooperating with the fastening means for the sealing top and a packing groove formed by the laterally bent edges of the continuous sheet of metal which forms the taken with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a vertical vertical section of present invention, away at the central portions;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through one side and part of the bottom of the casket on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 isan enlarged vertical upper portion ofthc side wall Fig. 2, and c Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on the linea e of Fig. 1, showing the handle and handle-bracket in place.

In the particular embodiment of the invention shown for purposes of illustration there is an outer casing 10 formed of suitable sheet metal which may be quite thin and of any external design desired. As shown, the bottom portion is, of course,.in a

side view but partly in a casket embodying the the casket being broken portion showing the end as shown in section of the straight plane and the main body 11 of the sides and ends is vertical at right angles to the bottom although the particular angle constitutes no part of the present invention. .--\s shown, the casing 10 is so shaped along lower and upper edges as to form the out wardly projecting ribs 12 and 13 for ornamental purposes and the rib 1 2 may be spaced upwardy slightly from the central bottom portion of the casing, as shown at 14. An inner casing 15 composed of suitable sheet metal in the term shown, has a fiat bottom portion parallel to the bottom of the outer casing 10 and side and end walls 16 parallel to the main body of the walls 11 of the outer casing and these walls are composed of a continuous imperforate sheet of material having no internal projections but smooth fiat inner surfaces. A box like construction composed of wood constitutes a filling between the outer casing 10 and the inner casing 15 and may be composed of the strips of wood 17 extending along the bottom, preferably about one inch thick, and the strips of wood 18 extending along the sides and ends, also about one inch thick, and wood fillers 19 and 20 made of such shape as to fit in and fill the cavities formed by bending the outer casing to produce the ribs 12 and 13. The wooden portion 18 in the sides and ends preferably terminates at 21, a short distance below the upper end of the sides, and wrought iron bars 22 are placed on the upper ends or these wood sections at the outer side but are of less width than the wood section, thus leaving a vacant space along the inner edge of the top of the wall. The side and end walls 16 of the inner casing are extended to the full height of the walls of the casket and are there bent outward at 23 and back downward on itself in lapped position and then across the upper surface 21 of the wood member 18 to the adjacent edge of the wrought iron bar 22 and then upwardly against that bar and outwardly a 2d over the edgeot that bar thus forming a groove 25 longitudinally of the top oi the walls on the inner side and this groove is rectangular in cross section. It will be understood that there is a similar groove formed in the same way on both sides and both ends and that they join at the corners so as to make a continuous groove entirely around the upper ends of the walls. The upper edge 26 ot' the outer metal casing 10 extends horizontaliy inward from the upper edge of the rib 13 and joins the edge 2d of the inner casing immediately over the wrought iron bar These edges are rigidly secured together throughout their length around the chamber by soldering or other suit-able means. A. suitable yielding packing such as a rubber gasket 27 is placed in the groove 25 to make an air tight connection with the sealing top forthe chamber fcrmedby the casing 1o,

The inner sealing top 28 may be of suitable known form and has the edge portions 29 comparatively thin with asmooth plain under-surface which rests on the gasket 27 in the groove. In order to securely hold the sealing top in place, closing the chamber and making it air and water tight, there are a series of screws 30 passing through the metal oi the outer casing at the top of the walls and through the wrought iron bar 22 and into the wood portion 18 enclosed between the inner and outer casings. This metal bar construction makes the device strong and rigid and avoids chance of looseness in the connection. On the projecting end of each screw 30 there is mounted a rotary key member 31 having a cylindrical portion surrounding the projecting end of the screw and a finger 32 adapted to make contact on its under surface with the upper surface of the edge 29 of the inner sealing top, pressing it down tightly on the gasket 27. This particular key "fastener is well known in the art and forms no part of the present invention.

The handle construction for lifting the casket in the form shown includes plates 341 having side brackets to the outer ends of which are pivoted arms 35, which in turn are connected at their outer ends to the handles 33. The brackets may be secured to the sides ot' the casket by screws 36 passing through openings in plates 34 through the outer metal casing 11 and into the wood filling 18 but are not sufiiciently long to reach or come in contact with and puncture the inner metal lining 16. The outer cover or closure 37 is 0% known construction and may be made of any external design desired to match the balance of the casket but it, of course, fits the upper edges of the walls of the casket chamher and over the cover 28 which closes that chamber and it must have the necessary lower open space between its edges to permit this, as shown.

Although one specific embodiment of the invention has been shown for purposes of illustration, it will, or course, be understood that it is not limited to that particular form beyond what is indicated in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A burial casket comprising in combination an open top chamber composed of? inner and outer self supporting sheet metal walls and a continuous wooden filling between them, the inner walls extending above the upper end of the adjacent portion of the wood for a predetermined distance and there folded on itself outwardly down to the upwardly facing end of said wood, then outwardly on said end a short distance and then upwardly forming a channel adapted to recive resilient packing, the upper edges of the space at the upper ends the outer walls of the casket being connected to the edges of the inner walls on the outer sides of said channels, to totally enclose the wood, said wood serving to retain fastening means for handles and the like, leaving the inner lining imperforate.

2. A burial casket comprising in combination an open top chamber composed of inner and outer sheet metal filling between them, the inner walls extending above the upper end of the adjacent portion of the wood for a predetermined distance and there folded on itself outwardly down to the upwardly facing end of said wood, then outwardly on said end a short distance and then upwardly forming a channel adapted to receive resilient packing, the upper edges of the outer walls of the casket being connected to the edges of the inner walls, strengthening bars filling the spaces on the outersides of said channels above the wood, screws passing downwardly through said bars into the wood, and key fasteners for the pivoted on the outer ends walls and a wooden of said screws.

3. A burial casket comprising in combination side and end walls including wood with strengthening bars forming part of their upper ends but spaced outwardly a short uniform distance from their inner edges, a continuous self supporting sheet metal lining on the inner and outer surfaces of said walls and across their ends having therein connecting longitudinal depressions along the upper ends of said walls between their inner edges and said bars forming a continuous groove adapted to receive packing, screws at intervals along the upper ends of said walls passing downwardly through said metal lining and strengthening bars and into the wood and having projecting upper portions, and adjustable sealing top fasteners mounted on the projecting portions of said screws.

4. A burial casket comprising a self sup porting outer sheet metal casing of predeter: mined design, an inner self supporting casing of continuous of the side and end walls, and there provided with longitudinal grooves for packing, a continuous wooden casing substantially freely filling the space between said metal casings but having a small space uniform in cross section immediately below the cross connection between said casing walls and strengthening bars filling said last mentioned spaces.

5. A burial casket comprising in combination, an outer casing formed to a predetermined shape from self-supporting sheet metal, an inner casing formed of sheet metal into a self-supporting, open-top, box-like chamber, said inner casing being spaced from the outer casing, a box of rigid material fillsignature.

JOHN E. CARLSON. 

